Full name | Hebei China Fortune Football Club 河北华夏幸福足球俱乐部 |
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Founded | 28 May 2010 |
Ground | Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium |
Capacity | 33,572 |
Owner | China Fortune Land Development |
Manager | Manuel Pellegrini |
League | Chinese Super League |
2016 | Chinese Super League, 7th |
Hebei China Fortune Football Club (simplified Chinese: 河北华夏幸福足球俱乐部; traditional Chinese: 河北華夏幸福足球俱樂部; pinyin: Héběi Huáxià Xìngfú Zúqiú Jùlèbù) is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Qinhuangdao, Hebei and their home stadium is the Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium that has a seating capacity of 33,000. Their current owners are real estate developers China Fortune Land Development who took over the club on 27 January 2015.
According to Forbes, Hebei are the 7th most valuable football team in China, with a team value of $90 million, and an estimated revenue of $22 million in 2015.
Hebei Zhongji was founded on 28 May 2010 by the Hebei football association and Hebei Zhongji Group who promised to invest three million Yuan a season for next four campaigns. They registered to play within China League Two, third tier of the Chinese football league system, as Hebei Yilinshanzhuang (Simplified Chinese: 河北依林山庄) for sponsorship reason in the 2011 league season. They failed to advance into the Play-offs after finishing 5th place in the group stage. On 17 October 2011, the cooperation relationship between Hebei FA and Hebei Zhongji Group was terminated and Hebei Zhongji Group would take full ownership of the club while the players who were owned by Hebei FA split into a new team called Hebei Youth. At the start of the 2012 league season, Hebei Zhongji would finish 1st place in the North Group with 18 wins, 5 draws and only 1 defeat, however they were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Play-offs by Hubei Huakaier, with the score at 1–1 they lost on the away goals rule. On 16 August 2013 Guo Ruilong was brought in to manage the team for the rest of the 2013 league season, however during his brief tenure at the club he quickly lead them to promotion after coming runners-up at the end of the campaign. Huang Yang was brought in to coach the team during the off season while on 26 December 2013 the club announced that Uruguayan Nelson Agresta would be the clubs first foreign manager.